Legendary Canadian rockers HELIX have issued the following update from frontman Brian Vollmer:

"I’ve never been averse to mixing business with pleasure. Some people avoid doing that, but I personally look at it like a perk of what I do.

Our first date of the summer was the Sturgis North Bike Festival in Salmon Arm, B.C. Knowing that, I decided months before to have Lynda and I fly out ahead of the gig to Calgary, Alberta. We landed in Cowtown on July 12th and were met by our old friends Susan and Blaine Thorenson who picked us up at the airport. From there it was off to a western clothing shop up by the old Back Alley Club where we used to play. I buy a lot of my stage/interview clothes there and I always make it one of my stops when I’m passing through. Nothing there this time though…Damn.

Having said goodbye to Susan and Blaine, Lynda and I set our sights on Southern Alberta, and in particular, Lethbridge. Lynda had never been there before and I thought that the geography of the area unique. So we went there. We made a trip to Average Joe’s Sports bar but Rob Merksel, the owner, wasn’t in. So we left with the intention of driving into the mountains through Crowsnest Pass and getting a room somewhere along the way. We got to Fernie, B.C. and decided to stop for the night, but we were soon to find out that all rooms in town were pretty much booked. At the next place up the road they had one available room, but it was expensive and a smoking room to boot. As I was mulling over whether or not to grab it or carry on to Cranbrook, I suddenly noticed smoke billowing out from underneath the hood of the rental car. I was waving at Lynda and pointing to the smoke and she was giving me a “What?” look with the shrugged shoulders. By the time I got to the car there was oil all over the pavement, so that was it for continuing forward. We checked in and I phoned the car rental company. They told me that all their outlets were closed except for the airport, so they would have to send another car out on a flat bed truck from the airport to where we were. Would I mind getting up at 2A.M? “No problem,” I said.

Well, they delivered the car just as they said, so early the next morning we headed out through the mountains, our destination the city of Nelson, where Roxanne with Steve Martin was filmed. My cousin lives there as well. It rained like hell on the way but the scenery was breathtaking nonetheless. After spending a day with family in Nelson we moved on to Salmon Arm.

The day we arrived ERIC BURDON was slated at the headliner. Many old friends had already gathered at the hotel - LEE AARON, the guys from KICKAXE, George from HARLEQUIN, Al Harlow from PRISM and all the HEADPINS, including my agent Bernie Aubin, from Canadian Classic Rock. That night there were about 15,000 people in attendance and Eric Burdon was great. A big thrill for me was shaking his hand just before he went onstage.

The next day the guys from NAZARETH started to arrive and we said a quick hello as they were moving past us in the hallway to their rooms. Thanks to the band for giving us one of their rooms for Lynda and I to stay in that night. This was about the fifth or sixth time in our careers where we’ve played with the Nazareth guys. That night we caught the show along with THE HEADPINS. It was a beautiful night and there were about 20,000 people. Both bands played blistering sets.

Saturday was our day to play with STEPPENWOLF. Brent, Kaleb, Daryl, and Fritz all were flying in to Kamloops the day of the show, where the festival’s shuttle service picked them up and brought them to our hotel. The day started off beautifully but by mid afternoon storm clouds started to drift in from the west. Around 6P.M. it started to come down. Hard.

25,000 tickets had been sold for that night. To say we were a little bummed would have been an understatement. We wanted to play…And play we did! We went on and rocked, even though it was pissing down rain. There were about 5,000 people scattered here and there under trees and tents, plus a crowd of die-hards standing in the rain rocking out with us. All in all it turned out to be a great night for the band regardless.

The next morning we all grabbed breakfast together and then Lynda and I hit the road once again, only this time back to Calgary. The band flew back whence they came. Lynda and I drove all day and ended up grabbing a room in Banff. We walked around town until it got dark, grabbing supper along the way. Very relaxing stuff.

The next morning we were on the road early once again, arriving in Calgary around lunchtime and grabbing a room at the Holiday Inn by the airport. We hooked up with Susan and Blaine and took in a show-Bad Bosses. After the show it was back to bed for a good night’s sleep before our flight heading home the next day.

We spent the morning at Blaine and Susan’s, the latter part of the day sitting on their back porch under the roof while a thunderstorm threw hail and rain down, the lightning striking the sub-division just across the road and sending up a plume of smoke.

Our flight was at 1. Imagine our surprise when the lady behind the counter at Air Canada informed us it was 1A.M., not 1P.M. when our flight was scheduled to leave. We’d missed it. $315 later we were re-booked on a 7P.M. flight with a re-route to Ottawa and a 7 hour stopover. But beggars can’t be choosers, so we took it.

Well, damned if another storm didn’t hit the airport and all flights were cancelled for another 3 hours! We barely made it out of Calgary, arriving in Ottawa around 4A.M. There was a heat wave on there, so all the air conditioners at the airport were on “frosty”. Lynda and I were dressed in shorts and t-shirts, so basically we froze for 5 hours, as all our warmer clothing was in our luggage. Finally at 11:30A.M. we returned home.

WAWA/July 23:

I had one day to catch my breath before we loaded up the van and truck for our next gig in WaWa on July 23rd. The show was called Wawapalooza and had us headlining with HAWKSLEY WORKMAN and THE MERCY NOW opening the show. The promoters put us up in beautiful log cabins with kitchettes, satellite TV, and a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside-not too shabby! Lynda wasn’t along for this date, but I wish she would have been. This place was right up her alley. We drove up on the Friday (about 12 hours) and spent the night before catching a little bit of DAN HILL’s set.

The next day we all wandered downtown where the town was having a street sale to coincide with all the other happenings going on. It was a small town Canadian atmosphere that I’ve grown to love over the years-all the locals milling about, pouring over items on display in front of each individual store. Not yer big city hoo-ha but fun all the same. People were friendly and eager to talk with us. The weather was beautiful-not too hot and not too cool. Just right.

Our show was well attended and the promoter was happy, especially with the show being the first of what was planned to be an annual event. Once again it rained heavily during the show, only this time we were safely inside an arena. Good thing.

Dan Nullmeyer (our soundman) and I had planned on an early start the next morning. We were on the road by 6A.M. and took the lesser traveled southern route along the lake which the other guys told us shaved a half an hour off our drive. On the way we encountered some early morning wildlife-2 baby foxes, a couple of fawns, and one big American bald eagle. The foxes came so close to the car that I was able to take a picture with my iPhone. Dan commented that he looked like he was posing for me. Cool. That night we made it home at 7:30P.M. Another mission accomplished.

I had fired Feldman Agency as our eastern Canadian agent while I was in Sturgis (Bernie Aubin & Canadian Classic Rock is now my agent for all of Canada). This was an easy decision as I was unhappy with the dates the agency brought me so far this year. When I returned home it meant firing off a couple of emails concerning my decision, as well as re-positioning the band for future dates. I had talked to Bernie at length while out west and we had discussed a game plan for the future on where we wanted to take the band. Going nationwide with Canadian Classic Rock added an incentive to Bernie to get us more dates and they immediately started coming in. On January 13th/2011 we’re now booked at the Regina Casino with our old friends KickAxe and on August 17th we’ll be flying to Chisisibi, Quebec on Hudson’s Bay to play for the Cree Nation. This is an exciting gig for us as none of us have ever been to Hudson’s Bay. There are no roads leading up there-the only way in is a four hour flight on a Dash 8 out of Montreal.

As well as working on the back of Planet Helix that week (I went nuts on the gingerbread again!) I had Sean Kelly come down to play on the four tracks we’ve been working on at A Studios. Kaleb also was in to play the leads on 'Champagne Communist' and 'Bitch is a Bullet'. For someone so young (Kaleb is 22) the kid shows a lot of maturity both in the studio and while we’re on the road. We really got a gem when we picked him up. The leads he played on these two tracks sound like someone who’s been around for a long time.

The week blew by and before we knew it the weekend and our next gig was looming large. It was in Port Colbourne, Ontario with our old friends Nazareth on Friday, July 29th.

Port Colbourne was bustling with locals and tourists enjoying the hot summer weather and ready for some rock and roll. There were about 5,000 people showed for the gig, but once again it rained through most of our set. Hey-do we have rain magnets on or what? LOL! Fans still thought we put on a great show and their enthusiasm didn’t seem dampered by the inclement weather. By that evening we were back in our beds at home.

Lynda and I decided to use our tent trailer that we bought last year and camp out at the Pinery Provincial Park in Grand Bend from Monday to Thursday. We had the studio scheduled for all day Wednesday but it was no problem to drive in from Lake Huron as London is less than an hour away. Daryl was there as usual (he’s been a real trooper in the studio) and we ended up finishing off the four songs for the compilation CD: 'Champagne Communist', 'Angelina', 'Skin In The Game', and 'Bitch Is A Bullet'. I dropped in at home for a couple of hours to answer phone calls, advance shows, and check in on Rascal (our last remaining cat) before returning to our campsite at the lake where Lynda was reading around the campfire. We returned home on Thursday and once again started to pack up the merchandise, make pays, and generally get everything ready for our show in Ancaster with The Mercy Now, SAGA and THE TEA PARTY. The event was named “The Friendship Festival”.

Once again the rain came down through our entire set. Add to that the promoters seemed to be disorganized to the extreme. But I digress…We played our set to about 1,500 fans and had a great time regardless.

This upcoming weekend we’re in Spanish with TROOPER and KIM MITCHELL. I mistakingly posted APRIL WINE as being the headliner-Randy corrected me. From there we head to Montreal to fly to Chisisibi, Quebec. Whoosh!"

Helix are among the acts confirmed for the Sweden Rock Cruise.

The ship Tallink Silja Galaxy departs from Stockholm, Sweden on October 6th and makes a round trip to Turku, Finland to return to Stockholm 23 hours later.

Acts confirmed for the cruise now include: ANVIL, EXODUS, DARK FUNERAL and HELIX.

Two more bands will be announced soon. For more info visit Swedenrockcruise.com.